1996-97 Utica Blizzard Statistics
Colonial Hockey League (COHL)
Team Record: 22-42 (SO: 0-10) - 54 points
in the COHL's East Division
Lost in 1st Round
Coach: Don Martin (22-42, 10 OTL)
Location: Utica, New York
Attendance: 58,534, Avg. 1,582 in 37 home dates
1996-97 Utica Blizzard RosterTeam Record: 22-42 (SO: 0-10) - 54 points
in the COHL's East Division
Lost in 1st Round
Coach: Don Martin (22-42, 10 OTL)
Location: Utica, New York
Attendance: 58,534, Avg. 1,582 in 37 home dates
The Utica Blizzard of the Colonial Hockey League ended the 1996-97 season with a record of 22 wins and 42 losses, with a 0-10 showing in shootouts for 54 points in the COHL's East Division.
The Blizzard netted 278 goals and yielded 385. John Vecchiarelli scored 56 goals for Utica, and Troy Stephens tallied 30 or more, too. John Vecchiarelli recorded 50 assists. Ron Bertrand topped the squad with 9 wins and a team-best 5.23 goals against average, leading regular goalies.
Don Martin coached the team. The 1996-97 Utica Blizzard lost in the in 1st Round of the playoffs.
Click on column headings to sort.
Scoring:
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG | SOG | SG% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Vecchiarelli | RW | 73 | 56 | 50 | 106 | 153 | -22 | 16 | 3 | 9 | 337 | 16.6 |
| Troy Stephens | C | 69 | 41 | 48 | 89 | 78 | -40 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 256 | 16.0 |
| Jeffrey Azar | D | 70 | 28 | 36 | 64 | 53 | -16 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 182 | 15.4 |
| Rob MacInnis | D | 60 | 15 | 47 | 62 | 169 | -34 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 258 | 5.8 |
| Shawn Yakimishyn | C | 72 | 21 | 26 | 47 | 144 | -16 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 163 | 12.9 |
| Scott Blair | C | 40 | 13 | 27 | 40 | 76 | -16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 17.6 |
| Tim Fingerhut | LW | 39 | 9 | 23 | 32 | 42 | -39 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 123 | 7.3 |
| Mike Peters | F | 71 | 9 | 21 | 30 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 110 | 8.2 |
| Jacque Rodrigue | D | 37 | 9 | 20 | 29 | 28 | -7 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 86 | 10.5 |
| Gary Miller | D | 44 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 69 | -17 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 74 | 6.8 |
| Dan Menard | C | 33 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 91 | 8.8 |
| Tim Harris | RW | 20 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 23 | -2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 18.9 |
| Richard Fatrola | C | 30 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 27 | -13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 8.1 |
| Jason Renard | F | 30 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 152 | -4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 60 | 15.0 |
| Ray Gallagher | D | 35 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 14 | -10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 78 | 5.1 |
| Kelvin Solari | RW | 21 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 39 | -12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 14.0 |
| Larry Empey | D | 73 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 83 | -9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 1.9 |
| Jamie Hayden | D | 35 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 24 | -6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 3.0 |
| Roy Gray | D | 39 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 67 | -14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 11.5 |
| Corey Isen | LW | 22 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 60 | -4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 6.1 |
| Shayne Stevenson | R | 10 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 18 | -2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 5.4 |
| Tom Colasanto | F | 23 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 35 | -7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 20.0 |
| Mike Steckler | C | 23 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 17 | -14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 18.2 |
| Len DeVuono | D | 9 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 | -6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 13.6 |
| Oleg Sorokin | L | 8 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Matt Ruchty | LW | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 45 | -3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 8.0 |
| Ben White | D | 17 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 11 | -11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0.0 |
| Bench | 74 | 3 | 3 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Steve Herniman | D | 55 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 72 | -23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 0.0 |
| Mark Bell | F | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 50.0 |
| Aaron Ellis | G | 27 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Evan Anderson | D | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Jason Scanzano | L | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Mike Gruttadauria | D | 32 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 136 | -18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 6.3 |
| Jason Anderson | F | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 36 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 50.0 |
| Chad Holloway | D | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sean Ortiz | LW | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Ron Bertrand | G | 31 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jeff Guay | D | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Pascal Belanger | W | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Chad Black | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Andrew Gagnon | G | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Joakim Wiberg | G | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Harry Gorman | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Lou Germain | G | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Len Perno | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Fran Bussey | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Ryan Bach | G | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Troy Caley | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Tom Cole | G | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Zdenek Sikl | F | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Christian Labonte | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ralph Marziale | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Mark LaForest | G | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | 1328 | 278 | 446 | 724 | 1768 | -366 | 78 | 17 | 19 | 2424 | 11.5 |
Goaltenders:
| Player | GP | Min | W | L | T/OL | ENG | SHO | GA | GAA | Shts | SVS | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ron Bertrand | 31 | 1618 | 9 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 141 | 5.23 | 962 | 821 | .853 |
| Aaron Ellis | 27 | 1302 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 100 | 4.61 | 751 | 651 | .867 |
| Tom Cole | 16 | 757 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 61 | 4.83 | 476 | 415 | .872 |
| Mark LaForest | 6 | 312 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 5.96 | 159 | 128 | .805 | |
| Lou Germain | 2 | 48 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3.75 | 18 | 15 | .833 |
| Ryan Bach | 2 | 119 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4.03 | 81 | 73 | .901 |
| Len Perno | 3 | 127 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 5.20 | 68 | 57 | .838 |
| Joakim Wiberg | 4 | 134 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 6.27 | 72 | 58 | .806 |
| Chad Black | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1.000 | |||
| Totals | 92 | 4421 | 22 | 42 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 369 | 5.01 | 2589 | 2220 | .857 |
Postseason - Scoring:
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG | SOG | SG% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Vecchiarelli | RW | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Troy Stephens | C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jeffrey Azar | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Rob MacInnis | D | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Shawn Yakimishyn | C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tim Fingerhut | LW | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Mike Peters | F | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dan Menard | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tim Harris | RW | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kelvin Solari | RW | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Larry Empey | D | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jamie Hayden | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ben White | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Bench | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Steve Herniman | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Mark Bell | F | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Chad Holloway | D | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Sergei Tkachenko | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tom Cole | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | 55 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 61 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
